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Jim.....It may seem crazy to agents outside of Florida but this can sometimes be the case. If there is mortgage insurance behind it or if you are dealing with a servicer like Aurora then you have to wait longer. Stay patient.....make sure you have an experienced agent helping you as far as communication goes.

There are several answers and none of them are good or going to solve the problem. However, here it goes...bank back log, property overpriced, BPO's don't match the price offered, seller and bank can not come to a meeting of the minds, bank might be holding out for a better offer after you give up, paperwork from seller incomplete or lost or buried, listing agent handling the negotiations is not experienced, too many loans and not enough money to go around, bank processor had a medical emergency and everyone else was busy with their own stack of paperwork, bank is having trouble dealing with the HOA or you could be dealing with B of A which means all of the above applies + ten more.

I don't think this is a complete list but this one should be long enough for anyone that has been waiting for almost a year. You have the patience of Job as my mother would say. Of course, you know the other old saying, " Anything good is worth waiting for".

Sir, this market is very hard to negotiate. Some short sales have taken me up to a year and some as quick as two weeks for a bank approval. Hopefully, you are watching for properties that are similar to what you have been patiently waiting for to see them go up in price in order to keep you hanging on for the prize.

Hope you get in soon so you don't have a another winter in Ohio. I hear it is going to be rough this year.

In today's market many short sales are taking longer than 45 days and don't let anyone tell you anything differently. A lot has been going on in the banking industry that has caused this back up. Some of the short sales I've sold have been approved and my buyers have been able to close as quickly as two weeks. Others have closed within 45 days, while a couple of them have taken almost six months to close. It depends on the bank or banks involved. A year is to long. Hopefully someone has gone through the upper chain of command to see what is taking so long.

your the buyer? Are you sure you are? To many listing agents who are "certified experts in short sales" are just wearing the badge and not completing the work. Short sales take 47 days! that is it. If it takes longer, then the listing agent is not telling the truth.

best of luck. I am willing to bet you are NOT the buyer as it is right now. Contract Law dictates "consideration" must be part of the contract....Without a contract, all you are is an "offer" in front of the seller/lender, ect which allows for the listing agent to present many many many more offers to the bank! I protect my buyers and actually create a Contract that holds up!

A Year??? Wow. I'm surprised this has not gone into foreclosure. We'e sold many, many short sales and have never had them go on this long. Our longest, but equally frustrating was 8 months. You are VERY patient! Hang in there...
The Marie Souza Team â€“ Top Selling on Cape Cod
Cape Cod Real Estate Services
508-790-2000
info@mariesouzateam.com

The paper work for the seller and the lien holder, seems to be never ending.
Please know that no short sale is ever approved until the lien holder signs all the papers.
Asset managers never seem to be in a hurry to make a desicion. They ask for the same papers from the sellers at least twice, bank statements, tax returns, hardship letter , if the seller does not cooperate in a timely fashion, I think they just move on to the next transaction and they have many of them.
Beyond this, it is anyone's quess. I have waited 7 months for one to close with a cash buyer who offered full price.
This a complicated situation and even if everyone does what they are suppose to do in a timely fashion, it is a slow process, if the parties involved, put things off and don't "take care of business" it might never get done.

Have you asked your agent specific questions such as does the seller have one loan or two loans? (two loans always complicate matters) - who is the lender? Is your offer the only one that was sent to the bank or are all offers being sent (hopefully yours in the only one sent). Short sales are complicated but agents that truly understand the process can determine the odds of the short sale being successful.

Jim,
You have my sympathy. Hope the house you are waiting on is worth it. I've had three negotiators change on one of mine that took almost 11 months. No one has a personal interest like you do. So hang in there and hope for the best.
Good Luck!
Genevieve Ramachandran

Geez---your are very patient! A property with multiple liens would not take a year to negotiate and close. I can't think of any viable reason as to why a qualified short sale option would be delayed beyond 5-6 months at most. I think there is more to your story---please share. Thanks!

Jim that is insane, the worst short sale i have seen has been 6 months, any more than that there is a problem no one is fixing, something is missing in the short sale package or it is destined for denial. I list alot of short sales here in Nh and recently got an approval in 3 weeks from listing. The average short sale is 2-3 months these days, hard ones are 4-5 months and usually if there are 2 mortgages or irs lien it is 5-6 months at worst. The keys are is your offer at market value, if your offer is too low or if the seller is in foreclsoure or if there are 2 or more mortgages this short sale could be doomed. you need to ask where exactly the listing agent is in the short sale process. what is the hold up, do they have an answer to fix this hold up and how long will it take. any longer than 30 days is too long

Oooooooh my! A year by any standard is a bit excessive. At this point you should be asking questions and demanding information. There are any number of reasons why the process has taken this long...but you should be getting regular updated as to the progress of your transaction.

At this time you should know the EXACT nature of the problems that are delaying your transaction and what that means to you....Do you continue to wait or BAIL!

Each short sale has its own set of circumstances that add to the negotiating time. It takes a village to close a Short Sale.

As many Short Sales as I have negotiated, is as many new scenarios as to why one takes so long, and another goes quickly.

Most often the Seller had more than one lien on the property. Often more than one mortgage has been taken out. Getting the Jr. Lien holder to release their lien, and coordinating that with the lien holder in first position is a difficult task, even for an experienced Realtor. If there are Attorneys involved, you can almost guarantee a slow down. I personally love the challenge of closing a Short Sale. I have almost 100% success rate, but again, the circumstances surrounding this particular loan default are what has taken the approval to close so long.

If I knew the property address, I could probably tell you what is going on pretty quickly based on which companies and lenders were involved.

Since Sarah gave you such a good answer, I would like to ask you a good question.

Is it perhaps time to consider a non short sale property?

When I was shopping for my home I initially considered taking the short sale route to get the "Best Deal" but I eventually found a home that had everything I wanted in incredible shape and was literally a turn key property and the price was comparable to many of the short sale homes I had looked at.

If you would like assistance in trying to find an alternative to another frigid winter let me know and I would be happy to assist you.

I sure don't miss the bone numbing cold Northeast.... :)

Whichever path you take I wish you the best of luck and when you finally do get down here you will love it. The Cape is a wonderful place to live.